Holidaymaker to sue travel firm after 15-stone child dive-bombed him on water slide
A holidaymaker has launched legal action against travel company Jet2holidays after a ’15-stone lad’ dive-bombed into him after he emerged from a pool slide, leaving him with severe neck injuries.
Graham Hyde, 44, suffered trauma to muscles in his neck and upper back and was diagnosed with ‘cervical neck concussion’ after the collision at Alegria Pineda Splash Hotel in Barcelona in June 2017.
Mr Hyde was only hours into his wedding anniversary celebrations with his eight-year-old daughter and wife Joanne, who captured the incident on her phone as she sat poolside.
The incident brought Mr Hyde’s holiday to an immediate halt as he heard ‘a massive crunch’ after the diver’s ‘backside’ landed on his head.
Mr Hyde said: ‘I saw something massive coming towards me and only realised later that it was a young lad and he literally landed with his backside on my head.
‘I heard a massive crunch and can honestly say I thought my neck had snapped.
‘The impact had such force, I was rotated 360 degrees underwater.’
After he struggled to get out of the pool, Mr Hyde went into shock as lifeguards applied a combination of deep heat and ice packs to his neck, which subsequently burnt his skin.
‘Then the pain really started to take hold and I was shaking like a leaf. I felt sick and my neck was on fire’, the business owner recalled.
‘Everything went tight and rigid. I couldn’t lift my arms up and any sort of movement hurt my neck.’
He also waited two ‘agonising’ hours to receive treatment after being taken to hospital in an ambulance, and was forced to pay for a taxi so his wife and daughter could follow him.
‘It was quite scary as my toes and fingers were tingling and I had no real idea of what damage had been done,’ he said.
A taxi strike later meant that the family had to find their own way back to the hotel, which meant he was ‘stumbling around in a neck brace in the boiling heat and horrible pain’ for at least an hour.
Now, he is planning to sue Jet2 Holidays after claiming that they continually ignored his queries in the aftermath of the incident.
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Mr Hyde, who would cycle an average of 10 miles a day before the accident, still experiences pain and stiffness months later, despite undergoing physiotherapy.
Magdalena Knez, a specialist personal injury lawyer at Slater and Gordon who is representing Mr Gordon, said: ‘Although this was an accident and Graham places no blame on the young man involved in the incident, the question is why there appears to have been no signs or barriers in place to section off the area where guests exit the water slide.
‘Graham has been left with ongoing neck pain after spending just a few hours on a family holiday and has since been ignored by the holiday company.’
A spokeswoman for Jet2holidays said: ‘The health and safety of our customers is extremely important to us and we are exploring Mr Hyde’s claim fully.
‘Unfortunately, as this is part of an ongoing legal process, we are unable to comment any further at this time.’
